By Marilyn J. Bardsley
Video Clip: Christopher Barrios Funeral Memorial - with thanks to Valerie Gill
March 23, 2007
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Crime Library Editorial) — I had been following the news of the disappearance, and then murder of 6-year-old Christopher Barrios with a range of emotions. First, fear for the boy's safety, and then sorrow when they found his body dumped in a remote area in a trash bag, followed by anger when a convicted child molester and his twisted family were responsible. As I learned the details of this horrific crime, anger quickly turned to outrage and I found myself traveling down I-95 from my office in Savannah to Brunswick to get a better understanding of what caused this innocent child to lose his life in such a tragic way.
What I discovered to my chagrin was that quirks in Georgia's law governing where convicted sex offenders could live resulted in George Edenfield moving from a prohibited location to a legally-permitted location in a neighborhood where children were omnipresent. Even more disturbing was that Edenfield's behavior in both locations should have raised a huge red flag to authorities, but because there was a disconnect between the neighbors who witnessed the behavior and the authorities who could have done something about it, nothing was reported and, consequently, nothing was done.
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| George David Edenfield (mugshot) |
From what Crime Library's Chuck Hustmyre has reported, it was clear that justice was not served 10 years ago when George Edenfield molested two neighbor boys in 1997 and a deal had been cut that permitted the convicted sex offender to be running around loose on probation, instead of being confined behind prison walls. Ironically, to further emphasize the failure of this approach to child molesters, Edenfield was in court 3 days before Christopher's disappearance on another offense — living too close to a playground.
On March 5, 2007, Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett was presented with a deal made by a state prosecutor that he could have either refused or accepted. The deal was a negotiated arrangement that gave George Edenfield another 10 years of regular probation, even though the assistant D.A. Gregory Perry recommended a year of intensive supervision instead of regular probation.
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| Glynn County Courthouse |
It is not clear why the state prosecutor even negotiated a deal since there was no question that Edenfield and his parents had been living for many years at an address that was less than 250 feet from a playground in Orange Park. Georgia state law requires that registered sex offenders cannot live within 1,000 feet of places like playgrounds where children gather. When the evidence of a violation of state law is incontrovertible, why make a deal at all? Whatever the reason, the deal that was struck called for 10 years of regular probation.
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| Orange Park playground |
Judge Scarlett accepted the deal, apparently for several reasons:
- Even though the court transcript indicated that Judge Scarlett agreed with Perry's recommendation, it would have been a nuisance to go back and try to renegotiate the deal to include the intensive probation.
- There was no record that Edenfield was dangerous. D.A. Stephen Kelly told the Brunswick News that "We didn't have any knowledge that he would offend again."
- Charles Taylor, Edenfield's attorney, told the judge that Edenfield was now living in an "acceptable" place with regard to state law and that he was living with his parents.
There was a problem with this deal, just as there was with the deal cut in 1997.
Let's start with the District Attorney's statement that he "didn't have any knowledge that he [Edenfield] would offend again." I believe it is quite common for child molesters to continue to offend, especially an individual who as an adult assaulted two young neighbor boys. Kelley's statement suggests that no one had come forward to report any incidents that Edenfield was continuing to molest children — which is the crux of the problem.
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| DA Stephen Kelley |
Yes, George Edenfield had been living with his parents for many years in an economically depressed area on Union Street in the city of Brunswick, but these were not your typical parents. David Edenfield, George's father, had been convicted for incest with his daughter.
Yes, George and his parents moved across town from the Union Street address which was less than 250 feet from a playground, but they all moved into a trailer park where many young children lived in even greater proximity to George than on Union Street. Christopher Barrios was one of those children.
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| Edenfields' house on Union Street |
It seemed quite unusual to me that a man who was a child molester gave up the practice for 10 years. That he settled quietly into a non-violent, non-offender lifestyle with his "acceptable" parents and then suddenly, three days after going to court, lured a little boy into his home, raped and murdered him.
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